Wireless devices in a wireless communication system may communicate with one another via signals having frequencies within a given radio frequency band. The traditional method of providing synchronous channel timing is to define periodic transmissions. For example, devices are synchronized to align with a slotted or super frame structure. When a data channel is set up, a subset of periodic slots are assigned to the channel. Data transmissions then happen in the assigned slots.
Techniques such as these may be employed in a variety of wireless communication systems in personal area network (“PAN”) or body area network (“BAN”) applications. An access scheme for some wireless PAN or BAN applications may need to support a variety of devices with significantly different requirements. For example, for some devices it is important to consume as little power as possible. In addition, a given device in a network or different devices in a network may support a wide range of data rates. Consequently, the access scheme may need to provide relatively robust, yet flexible, functionality.